


Comfort & Need

by afteriwake



Series: Lingering Winter [8]
Category: Bleach
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-10-16
Updated: 2012-10-16
Packaged: 2017-11-16 11:13:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/538829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It pained her to see Hisagi like this, and she offered him what peace she could.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Comfort & Need

It hurt her to see him like that. Everyone was in poor spirits after the fighting was finished once and for all. With Kira it was almost to be expected, considering that depressed was his default emotion, but Hisagi…no, with him it was painful to see, more painful than she cared to admit. The hurt could not be eased with bottle after bottle of sake, she knew this. It was so much deeper than that.

The Winter War had caused wounds to open up on everyone involved that could not be healed. And Matsumoto worried about all those close to her. She knew she should be worried about Hitsugaya; after all, Aizen had caused him to inflict immeasurable pain on the one person he swore to protect, and when all was said and done her Captain was a far different person now. But Hinamori was alive, and she did not blame Hitsugaya, and that was helping to heal that wound. He didn’t need her right now, not really.

But the wound on Hisagi was different. He’d had to kill someone he admired greatly, had tried to save him from the fate he had chosen, and instead had watched him be obliterated in front of him. She knew there was much she could say to try and ease the pain, but it would be a lie, and she would not lie to him. He didn’t deserve it. So they had taken to sitting on the roofs at night, watching the moon and the stars with very little conversation. 

Tonight, however, she was restless, and so was he, and so they decided to go to her room and have tea and try to talk. Conversation was stilted at first, with them rarely straying into the topic of the Winter War for fear that floodgates would open and strong emotions would consume them. But, gradually, those gates did open. The emotions that ran through them were strong but not overpowering, and they both opened up about how it had affected them.

When he stopped, he looked at her and mentioned that he would very much like to forget, for at least one night. Forget the pain, and the death, and the lingering aftereffects of violence. He just wanted to have one peaceful night. When she replied that she didn’t know how to give him that, he paused, and then explained that he didn’t want to be alone tonight, that he wanted to be with her through the night and into the morning.

She hesitated, only because she knew there were two ways that statement could be taken, and she herself wasn’t sure which direction she wanted to take herself. She moved closer to him and set her hand on top of his and waited, letting him make the move he felt most comfortable with. When all he did was squeeze her hand and move so that they were close, she relaxed and let her head rest on his shoulder. This she could do.

They stayed like that for quite a while before she began to yawn. It had gotten to be much later than she expected, and she lifted her head up to look at him and suggest that maybe it was time for them to sleep, and that it was all right if he slept next to her, when he leaned in and kissed her. She was surprised, at first, but after a moment the surprise wore off and she began to respond, resting her hand on his arm and delighting at the feel of warm skin beneath her palm. And suddenly there was an overpowering need, a need to feel more warm skin, to deepen the kiss, to keep him close to her.

He pulled away after a moment to apologize, but she placed a finger on his lips and stood up, offering him her hand. She led him towards her bed and stopped in front of it, putting a hand on his arm again and letting him know in no uncertain terms that she wanted this, that she wanted him, and that tonight she would try her best to offer him that peaceful night he craved. With great tenderness they began to undress each other, and soon ended up in her bed together, skin against skin and kisses scorching the flesh everywhere lips fell on it.

It wasn’t until the next morning, when she woke up next to him, his arm over her stomach and her legs tangled up with his, that she realized for the first night since that hellish war ended, she’d had a peaceful night. With that thought on her mind, she burrowed closer to his warmth and began to await the new day with something she had not felt in a long time: hope.


End file.
